4/25/24

 Burg's Buzz
nburg@crestonstmalachy.org
4/25/24

Math

Skills that the students have worked on this week included place value and fractions. Students reviewed equal and unequal parts. The class also identified unit fractions, multiple copies of a unit fraction, and worked with fractions on a number line.

Reading/Language Arts

This week the third grade class is reading the opinion essay Edision's Best Invention. The author made the claim that the lightbulb was Edison's best invention, then provided evidence by listing two other inventions and comparing how each benefited the world to the light bulb. In addition to identifying a claim, students also worked on summarizing, ideas/support, and text/graphic features.    as the comprehension skill. The vocabulary skill covered the Latin roots of vis, mem, and cent. The decoding skill focused on plurals when a word ends with a consonant and a y to change the y to i and add -es. Students worked with complex sentences as the grammar skill. The class learned about independent and dependent clauses as well as subordinating conjunctions.

Science

The third grade students have learned about why a cactus has needles and how something becomes a fossil.

Biography Book Report Projects

The due date for the biography projects is quickly approaching. Projects are due back to school on Wednesday, May 1st. Students should return the book they borrowed, the report form, and the project was completed. Please have students practice their presentation at home several times, so they are prepared to present to the class. Several students will share their projects over the dates of May 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.

The Biography Bash is scheduled for Friday, May 10th. Projects will be set up in the gym from 2-3 PM. Parents, grandparents, and special guests may come and view all of the students projects. 

FAST Testing

Fast testing begins at the end of the week. This upcoming Thursday afternoon, I will be testing fluency on half of the class. The rest of the students will be assessed during the afternoon of Monday, April 29th. The other tests will be given over the two next weeks.

Field Trips

There are two field trips planned for the third grade class in the month May. The first field trip is on Thursday, May 9th. The class will be going to Greenfield for "On the Trail of Iowa Corn." For the this field trip, parent volunteers will be transporting students to and from the destination. Lunch is provided. Students are encouraged to wear their STM gear and wear tennis shoes. A note and permission slip has been included in the take home folder.

The second field trip will take place on Tuesday, May 14th with the second and third grade classes going to the Science Center of Iowa. Students will need to pack a lunch for this field trip. Also wearing STM gear is also recommended.  Parents may attend, but will need to drive themselves to the destination. The cost of admission for parents is $7.00, which will be paid upon arriving at the SCI. There is a note and permission slip enclosed in the take home folder.

Social Contract

The social contract in third grade will continue to be enforced until the end of the school year. Students will be expected to be respectful, kind, honest, helpful, and a good listener. This includes in the classroom. at recess, or in specials. 

Important Dates

Thursday, April 25th-FAST Testing in the Afternoon

Friday, April 26th-Spirit Day ($1)/Clean Up Day

Monday, April 29th-FAST Testing in the Afternoon

Wednesday, May 1st-Biography Book Report Projects Due

Thursday, May 2nd-Glow-A-Thon

Friday, May 3rd-Spirit Day $1

Thursdsay, May 9th-"On The Trail of Iowa Corn" Field Trip

Friday, May 10th-Biography Bash 2-3 PM in the Gym

Tuesday, May 14th-2nd/3rd Grade Sciene Center Field Trip

Friday, May 17th-Spirit Day $1

Wednesday, May 22nd-3rd/4th Grade Mass

Wednesday, May 22nd-Spring Music Concert

Friday, May 24th-Field Day

Friday, May 24th-3 Hour Early Dismissal

4/18/24

 Burg's Buzz

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

4/18/24

Math

The students worked on addition and subtraction with regrouping this past week. We also reviewed estimation.

Science

Over the next couple of weeks the third grade class will be studying a variety of science related topics.

Reading/Language Arts

The class read  A Bumpy Ride by Sharon Katz and Rachel Young. In this informational text, the students follow a timeline of the invention of the bicycle and how its features changed over time.

The comprehension skills covered author's purpose, making predictions, and figurative language. The vocabulary skill was using the prefix ex-. Students worked with the prefixes of re- and un- and the suffixes of -less and -ness.

FAST Testing

The FAST Testing screenings will begin at the end of next week and continue into the first week of May.

Dress Code

As a reminder when wearing shorts, the bottom of the short must extend at least to the mid-thigh. 

Important Dates

Friday, April 19th-No School (Teacher Professional Development)

Friday, April 26th-Spirit Day $1/Spring Clean Up Day

Wednesday, May 1st-Biography Book Report Projects Due

Thursday, May 2nd-Glow-A-Thon

Friday, May 3rd-Spirit Day $1

Thursday, May 9th-Trail of Corn Agricultural Field Trip

Friday, May 10th-Biography Bash 2:00-3:00 PM

4/11/24

 Burg's Buzz
4/11/24
nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

ISASP Testing

The 3rd grade students have survived the week of  testing. Parents will be notified when the results are in.

Reading/Language Arts

The class will be back in their reading textbooks starting on Thursday, April 11th. A spelling pretest will be given on this day. The post test and weekly assessments will be taken on Thursday, April 18th. There is no school on Friday, April 19th due to teacher professional development.

Math

Students have worked on identifying the fraction of an object that has been divided into equal parts. Another skill the students worked was addition and subtraction with regrouping. The class also worked on geometry terms such as perpendicular and parallel. 

Science

Students will be having a test over weather on Monday, April 15th.

Biography Book Report Projects

I hope that each of the students are enjoying the biography that he/she picked out. Just a reminder that projects are due back to school on Wednesday, May 1st. That is in 20 days. As I have told the students, this is not a project that should be completed the night before it is due. Please plan time for the student to write down the facts, create their project, and practice their presentation.

GLOW DAY

Friday, April 12th, the third grade class will have a GLOW day to celebrate the end of ISASP testing. The fun will begin after music class until it is time to switch classes at 11:00 AM for social studies. It will resume after the last recess at 2:20 PM. White or neon is the best to get the best glow in the dark effect.

Important Dates

Friday, April 12th-GLOW Day-Wear white/neon shirts

Friday, April 19th-NO SCHOOL  (Teacher PD)

Thursday, April 25th-FAST Testing During PM

Friday, April 26th-Spirit Day/Earth Day Clean Up

Monday, April 29th-FAST Testing During PM

             

4/4/24

 Burg's Buzz
nburg@crestonstmalachy.org
4/4/24

Reading/Language Arts

Time was spent this past week doing the practice tests for the reading, math, and language arts sections of the ISASP testing. Students were able to see how to navigate through the test and how to answer questions.

Students also worked on poetry. Several examples were read aloud and examined. Students learned about forms, elements, and types of poetry. The first poem that each third grade wrote was an Autobiography Poem. This is a poem about oneself.

Following testing on Thursday, April 11th, the students will take a spelling pretest and start back in the reading series. The post test will be on Thursday, April 18th. There is no school on Friday, April 19th.

Math

Skills covered this week have included time to the hour and understanding fractions.

Science

The students continue to learn about the differences between weather and climate.

Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress Testing

Students in grades third through eighth grades will be taking the ISASP tests beginning of Monday, April 8th. The third grade students will complete a reading test, a writing/language arts test, and a math test.

In the take home folder last week, a note card and an index card were sent home. The index card is to write an encouraging note to your child about ISASP testing. Please put the index card into the envelope and return it back to school. If you have not yet returned it back to school, please return by Friday, April 5th. 

Reading Incentive Program

Through the months of October through March, students were in charge of tracking the number of minutes read each day. The total minutes turned in on the calendars throughout the entire six months totaled 64,017 minutes. Clinton read the most minutes in the third grade class totaling 19,935 . The second most minutes 6,915 was read by Ryder.  The following students completed and met the goal in all six months; Hadley, Clinton, Zayn,  Ali, Ryder, and Hattie.

Solar Eclipse Watch Party

On Monday, April 8th, students at STM will be viewing the solar eclipse. The PTO has purchased glasses for each student.

Important Dates

Friday, April 5th-Spirit Day $1 (Wear Your Iowa Gear)

Monday, April 8th-Friday, April 12th-ISASP Testing

Friday, April 12th-Glow Day in 3rd Grade 

Friday, April 19th-NO SCHOOL (Teacher PD)

Wednesday, May 1st-Biography Book Report Projects Due